The Trump administration this week released its FY 2021 budget, which includes a proposed $1 trillion in transportation infrastructure investments.
The president's budget also requests $21.6 billion for the U.S. DOT in discretionary budget authority for 2021, which is a $3.2 billion (or 13%) decrease from the 2020 enacted level. According to a report from the Washington Post, the budget also cuts more than $2 billion in highway infrastructure funds and more than $500 million in transit grants.
The budget proposes a 10-year reauthorization of surface transportation systems, including $755 billion in mandatory spending from the Highway Trust Fund, and $55 billion in authorizations of discretionary budget authority from the General Fund. The $810 billion reauthorization of surface transportation programs includes highway, transit, rail, highway safety, and hazardous materials safety programs. The budget includes an additional $190 billion for additional infrastructure investments for a transportation infrastructure investment total of $1 trillion.
The FY 2021 budget proposes to reauthorize all transportation modes covered in the five-year FAST Act. In total, the budget proposes an 8% increase in 2021 for highway and transit formula programs from the level provided in the last year of the FAST Act.
Some other highlights from the proposed budget for transportation include:
- $50.7 billion in 2021 and $602 billion over 10 years for Federal Highway Administration programs.
- $13 billion in 2021 and $155 billion over 10 years for Federal Transit Administration programs.
- $1.7 billion in 2021 and $19.8 billion over 10 years for safety programs.
- $1 billion to the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program.
The budget outline also calls attention to U.S. DOT's new Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success (ROUTES) Initiative, which would offer rural stakeholders additional resources and support to identify and apply for financial assistance from the department for rural transportation projects.
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SOURCE: White House Office of Management and Budget
